The Clippers once held the coveted title of most dysfunctional franchise in the league and they made a lot of strides toward reclaiming it this summer.

Everything started off so well. They shocked many by quickly coming to terms with Warriors free agent Baron Davis -- filling a big need at the point. Pairing Davis with Elton Brand was supposed to put the Clippers on a course back to the playoffs in the West. Unfortunately, the team then inexplicably lost Brand to the Sixers a week later. Brand's people say the Clippers mishandled the negotiations. The Clippers point the finger at Brand's agent, David Falk.

Suddenly, the Clippers' dream team was a nightmare. At this point in his career, Davis making $65 million stretches credulity, even if he's motivated. An unmotivated Davis playing on a cellar dweller? Ugh.

The Clippers also lost Corey Maggette and tried to minimize all the damage by bringing in Marcus Camby and Ricky Davis. But I don't think they're a playoff team in the West with that crew.

Elton's departure probably places the Clippers on the minus end of the Winner-Loser continuum. And had the Clippers been irreparably paralyzed by the Elton debacle, it'd be fair to characterize them as the dysfunctional franchise they were several years ago. But it's important to recognize the creativity and decisiveness employed by the organization after Elton signed with Philadelphia. Does the addition of B. Davis, Camby, R. Davis make them a playoff team? I'm not sure. But I think they'll win more than the 23 games they won last year. By virtue of that alone, the Clips should be spared inclusion in the Most Loserish Offseason club.

Posted Wednesday, October 29 at 3:20PM

Good news!

We have launched a new ClipperBlog.com site! You are currently on our old system & are viewing an archived page. We will continue to keep all 670 posts from our first 3 years on this archive site. Soon we will be closing the comments for each of these older posts.

Comments

Marcus Camby doesn't replace what Elton Brand brought to the table. But when you consider the alternatives (Zach Randolph or resigning to another year of Thomas as the starting PF), Camby for peanuts is a smart move. Baron Davis (even with his injury history) is a no-brainer positive. The R. Davis and Skinner moves are debatable but the results, as always, will speak for themselves.

That way I see it, Elton Two-Face left the Clippers with nothing but a big bag of fucking lemons so they made the best lemonade they possible could. For their efforts, you can't really fault the organization.

Douchebags like Ford will always mock the Clippers because they're an easy target.

I'm actually optimistic about next season. As long as Dunleavy plays to the strengths of his roster, they could do some serious damage.

once Brand bolted for cheese steaks there really were few options the clippers had left that would of put them in the winners column for off-season moves, and with the exception of offering josh smith or okafor all the money they will be paying camby/ricky davis/skinner, there really was nothing they could do to come out ahead. for once this is not the fault of the organization, that is the only comfort i have.

I think that Chad Ford and pretty much all the experts are missing how important adding Baron is to the team.

The point guard spot is by far the most important position in NBA ball these days, and Baron is definetely an elite point. I mean, last year, we had Dickau and Knight out there (NOT GOOD).

I think adding Baron will help alot of things, but will espacially help Kaman, because we now have a real perimeter presence. Honostly, we had a bit of a logjam situation with Brand and Kaman before. How many teams in the NBA have 2 great low post scorers? Pretty much none. You only need one, and Kaman is our guy. So be it.

Chad Ford is just suckling on the "clippers suck" tit that the media loves so much.

No telling what the health/chemistry will yeild. But I'm very pleased with the post EB moves. Regardless of whatever faults there were with the EB debacle, management made the best possible moves afterwards. I'm cool with that and ready to go foward.
I say the playoffs are realistic if guys stay healthy and MDsr. alters his style to fit the guys he has.

i agree wholeheartedly with neiljphx. if we stay healthy and MDsr does a smash up job, we could squeak in...but we have a coach that is described using terms like procrustean more often than flexible, and we have two guys that until recently have been injured EVERY year. We definitely have made great moves (particularly in the last 2 drafts) but who knows if we'll make the playoffs. Esp in the west.